Christina Skoulos, Registered Psychotherapist & Kinesiologist

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Markham, ON
Christina Skoulos, Registered Psychotherapist & Kinesiologist

Holistic, Integrative Spiritual Psychotherapist & Kinesiologist. Clinical Exercise Physiologist & Results Driven Health, Wellness & Lifestyle Coach.

Empowering individuals to rise and overcome obstacles while growing to improve their lives & health

12/03/2025

Are you holding your breath – right now?

A recent 2016 study introduced a diaphragmatic breathing program to participants with anxiety, who demonstrated a reduction in anxiety scores after practicing the technique daily.

Since respiration is controlled by the autonomic nervous system, stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system due to anxiety triggers physical responses that include elevated heart rate, tense muscles, and shallow, rapid breathing.

This means that when we are anxious, we are not breathing properly.

In contrast, diaphragmatic breathing stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which reduces anxiety levels.

When we breathe from the diaphragm, we are reducing the constriction that we feel when we are anxious – we are moving more air downward into the body, which increases diaphragm length and facilitates more efficient exhalation.

The best part?

There are no adverse side-effects to breathwork and breathwork can be safely and easily learned – not to mention, it can be done from home!

11/26/2025

A question we get asked often is:

What is the difference between breathwork and meditation, and which one is right for me?

In truth, the two are very similar: both are mindfulness practices, and both promote benefits to the body and mind.

We have found that meditation is more difficult for many to practice with regularity than breathwork, since meditation involves sitting in one place for prolonged periods of time.

Meditation improves attention span, helps reduce memory loss, promotes self-awareness, lowers your biological age, improves REM sleep, and helps stop overeating.

Meditation presupposes correct breathing, while breathwork, on the other hand, actually focuses on changing HOW you breathe so that you ARE able to breathe correctly.

Breathwork is like a workout for your nervous system, and when you regulate your autonomic nervous system through breathwork you experience immediate stress relief and more confidence.

So, when you are trying to figure out whether meditation or breathwork is right for you, ask yourself:

What do I want to gain from my mindfulness practice?
What benefits apply best to my situation?
What can I feasibly and sustainably practice everyday?

And don’t be averse to someday practicing both because, as mentioned, there are benefits to learning how to live in the present AND learning how to breathe properly.

11/19/2025

Breath Focus, or mindful breathing, requires users to focus on an image, word, or phrase that promotes joy or relaxation.
How to do it:
1) Find a comfortable position, either sitting up or lying down.
2) Pay attention to how you’re breathing while trying not to change it.
3) Switch between your normal breathing and deep breathing for a few minutes, noting how each technique produces different sensations in your body.
4) Continue deep breathing for a few minutes, placing a hand on your stomach to help you notice how it moves with your breathing.
5) Incorporate a loud sigh with every exhale.
6) Combine this with thoughts of your chosen image, word, or phrase.
7) Picture the air you breathe into your body bringing you peace and calm.
8) Then picture the air you breathe out taking your anxiety and tension with it.
9) Continue to do this for as long as desired.
We hope you find this exercise challenging and rewarding.
And, remember, you can do this anywhere, anytime -- when all you need is a little boost of positivity :)

11/12/2025

What’s your secret to balancing care for both your physical and mental health?

No wrong answers, folks :)

11/05/2025

‘Pranayama.’

An ancient Yogic style of breathing.

Prana is a Sanskrit word that means life force and ayama means extending or stretching.

Thus, the word ‘pranayama’ translates to the control of your life force. Through ‘pranayama’ we aim to ground ourselves and restore balance to our psyche.

Have you ever given it a try? What was your experience like?

We want to know ;)

10/29/2025

We tend to think that while both are equally important, we can’t have physical health without first taking care of our mental health 😃

10/22/2025

Wellness is striving for authenticity and balance.

Each of us, however, reaches our personal harmony in different ways.

What does harmony in your life mean to you?

10/15/2025

Here are just a few key questions that understanding your DNA can help you answer:

-Are you Vitamin D Deficient? How much and which supplement should you take to correct this?
-Do you suffer from B12 Insufficiency? Over 40% of Canadians do.
-Are you Gluten Intolerant?
-What’s your level of Allergies & Histamine Intolerance?
-How does your body respond to Inflammation?
-What’s your Pain Tolerance?
-Should you be taking Probiotics?
-How does your body respond to Stress and what does your body need to better manage and develop resilience?

There is no one-size-fits-all solution to optimizing health.
Each of us is unique at the DNA level, and so our paths to wellness should be equally unique :)

10/08/2025

Have you tried meditation?
The wandering mind, which worries about the past, the present, and the future, is associated with decreased happiness.
When our minds wander, this means that our Default Mode Network is active, and one of the main benefits of meditation is to quiet this part of brain:
To dial in our thinking and learn to be present in the now, immune from distraction!

10/06/2025

There are 8 pillars of holistic wellness:

-Physical
-Nutritional
-Emotional
-Intellectual
-Financial
-Social
-Environmental
-Spiritual

So now we want to ask you:

What pillar of holistic wellness do you need to work on the most?

10/03/2025

For all the health enthusiasts out there…

Let’s test your knowledge ;)

10/01/2025

Roughly one-third of Americans identify as being spiritual but not religious.
How about you?
Does spirituality inform your pursuit of health and wellness?
We’d love to know :)

Address

Markham, ON
L3R9W9

Website

http://www.christinaskoulos.com/, https://linktr.ee/e__motion.healing

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